Device for fastening shoe-laces.



W. H. COWL. DEVICE FOR FASTENING SHOE LAC-ES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1916.

1,239,355, Patemedsept. 4,1917.

IN VEN OR.

WITNESS w W I W4T0%M ATTORNEY.

WILLIAM H. COWL, OF. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

DEVICE FOR FASTENING SHOE-LACES.

Application filed September 16, 1916. Serial N 0. 120,494.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. CowL, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Fastening Shoe-Laces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a device for fastening shoe laces and has for its primary object the provision of means for securing the laces to a shoe after the shoe has been laced, obviating the necessity of tying and untying the bow-knot, thereby lessening the time required to fasten the laces.

Another object of this invention is to pro vide a fastener secured upon each side of the heel seam of the shoe and adjacent the top thereof for receiving and gripping the free ends of the shoe laces, thereby obviating the necessity of tying the usual bow-knot.

A further object of this invention is to provide the fasteners each with a shank and a body portion thereon, the body portion being slotted to receive and grip the shoe lace upon insertion of the lace therein.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a device for fastening shoe laces of the above stated character, which shall be simple, durable and eflicient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the descrip tion proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the fol lowing description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a device for fastening shoe laces, constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a shoe illustrating my invention applied thereto;

Referring in detail to the drawing, the

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented se t. 4,1917.

numeral 1 indicates a portion of an upper of a shoe having the usual shoe laces 2 thereon and the heel seam 3. In applying myinve'ntion to a shoe of the above described character, a fastener is placed upon each side of the heel seam 3 and adjacent the top of the shoe upper 1 to receive each end of a shoe lace after the shoe has been laced, obviating the necessity of tying the usual bow-knot. As both of the fasteners employed upon a shoe are identical in con struction, it is not now deemed necessary to describe each in detail.

The numeral 4 indicates as an entirety a shoe lace fastener consisting of a hollow shank 5 having formed upon its upper end an enlarged body portion 6, the upper edges of which are rolled as illustrated at 7 The body portion 6 is preferably of triangular formation but may be constructed in any desired shape.

The body portion 6 has a slot 8 extending from the apex portion thereof to a point central of the web portion, leaving an attaching shank 9, which establishes a connection between the upper and lower portions of the body portion. The slot 8 forms upper and lower flanges l0 and 11, the up per flange 10 being cut away as illustrated at 12 at the apex portion of the body portion 6, to facilitate easy insertion of the shoe lace within the slot 8, so that the flanges 10 and 11 may readily engage and grip the shoe lace.

In operation, the shank 5 is secured to the upper 1 of the shoe in the ordinary manner and the free end of the shoe lace 2 is brought about each side of the upper and are each secured to a fastener by passing the end of the shoe lace through'the slot 8 allowing the upper and lower flanges to engage and grip same.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A shoe fastener comprising a shank, a body portion formed on said shank and having its upper edges round, said body portion having a slot therein forming an at taching shank establishing a connection between the upper and lower portions of the body portion, and means formed by the slot for engaging and gripping a shoe-lace.

2. A shoe fastener comprising a shank, a substantially triangular-shaped body portion formed on said shank and having a slot therein forming an attaching shank facilitating a connection between the upper and lower portions of the body portion, flanges formed upon the upper andlower portions of the body portion for engaging and gripping a shoe lace, and said upper flange being cut away to facilitate easy insertion of the shoe lace in the slot.

A shoe fastener comprising a shank, a triangular shaped body formed on said Copies of this patent may be obtained for shank and having a slot intermediate its upper and lower edges and extending from the apex portion to .a point on the web portion forming an attaching shank between the upper andlower portions of the body, said slots forming upper and lower flanges for gripping a shoe lace, and a rounded edge formed on the upper portion of the body in a plane above the slot to cause the lace to be guided in said slot.

In testiinonywhereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses. WVILLIAM H. COW'L.

WVitnesses JAMES lWIAsoN, M. B. Hos'rna.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

